


The Prodigal Son

by toribird



Category: Castle
Genre: 4x23 AU, Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Ryan's getting hurt in this fic, Undercover, Wild Rover AU, ryan centric
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-25 15:52:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10767480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toribird/pseuds/toribird
Summary: Alone, while dealing with the aftermath of his betrayal against his partners, Ryan gets sucked into a past he thought he'd left behind. 4x23/5x18 AU





	The Prodigal Son

**Author's Note:**

> I'm still in the process of writing this but I wanted to put feelers out to see if this type of fic would interest anyone besides myself. I always thought Ryan kinda got the short end of the stick at the beginning of season five with how he was treated. That, coupled with my absolute fascination of Ryan's undercover life + my absolute love for him left me with this idea and after literal YEARS, I've finally started to write it. 
> 
> The beginning chapter is a little slow, but it'll pick up soon.  
> Enjoy!

_“By the pricking of my thumbs,_  
_Something wicked this way comes.” - William Shakespeare_

Stretching and yawning as he walked into the elevator of the 12th precinct, Detective Kevin Ryan sorely wished that he wasn’t so freakin _exhausted_. The past month had been hell on him and on his body. Ever since Beckett and Esposito had started their leave the 12th had been short staffed, meaning Ryan had been picking up more hours. To make matters worse, he’d been getting shit from much of the rest of the precinct since he’d ‘ratted out’ his partners.

Really, it wasn’t like he couldn’t handle himself, but it’s harder to deal with day-to-day ridicule without the backup and moral support of his friends. He missed having Beckett and Esposito around-heck he even missed Castle and his wild theories, but it’d be another two months before they came back.

If only Esposito would call him _back_. The two hadn’t parted on the greatest of terms. Kate seemed to have forgive him, but Esposito had been pissed beyond pissed. He’d even called Ryan ‘the Judas,’ which had particularly stung. Ryan desperately wanted to work things out, but Esposito wouldn’t call him back or answer his texts, and Ryan was too afraid that if he showed up at Esposito’s house that he’d get a door slammed in his face.

Shaking his head clear of these thoughts, Ryan braced himself for another long shift, stepped out the elevator and headed straight towards the coffee machine. If he was going to function today at all, he needed some caffeine to keep him awake.

Two cups of coffee later, Ryan was awake and working through the paperwork of the last case he had closed when he felt something knock into him and his desk, sending the files on his desk right onto the floor.

“Oops!” A voice came from behind him. “I didn’t see you there, Detective Ryan.”  
  
_What was this, 10th grade?_ Ryan thought to himself. Nevertheless, Ryan ground on his teeth and took a deep breath. Gripping his pencil, he closed his eyes and willed himself not to retaliate. He didn’t want to make anymore trouble, but damn he really wanted to get up out of his chair and take a swing at the detective who was now moving away from his desk.  
  
Instead he waited a few seconds before opening his eyes and then started to collect his papers. He looked up, and watched as detective Williams walked over to his partner and smirked at Ryan. Ryan glared back him but didn’t say anything. He really didn’t want to risk any worse ridicule from his other detectives, but his patience was waning.  
  
Work for him had turned into something he no longer looked forward to. It felt like highschool all over again and he couldn’t _stand_ it. He couldn’t wait until Beckett and Esposito came back. Even if they wouldn’t talk to him, there was a good chance that the other detectives would lay off the hassing when they came back-or at least he hoped they would.  
Sighing, he returned to his paperwork until it was almost time to leave. It had been a slow day, no new cases for him to work on, partly because some of the other detectives seemed to be trying to avoid letting Ryan onto any cases with them.

Looking at the time, Ryan took a deep breath and went back to his paperwork. Maybe he could get done early and get home before Jenny and surprise her with dinner. He smiled at the idea; he and Jenny hadn’t been able to spend much time together lately because of the long hours of both their jobs. Actually, Jenny was planning on leaving for a month and a half to go to Europe for a business trip the following month, which meant that he might not get another chance to cook her dinner for a while. After remembering this, Ryan decided to focus all of his remaining energy into his paperwork to see if he could get it done in time to rush home.

After a while, Ryan was so determined to finish his paperwork, he completely missed his name being called out until the voice tapped him on his shoulder.

“Ryan! Can you hear me buddy?” Came the voice of the man besides him, startling him out of his trance. Looking up, Ryan smiled when he saw who the man was - Louis Johnson from Narcotics, a man he used to work with regularly.

Upon seeing him jump Louis frowned. “You ok Ryan? I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Ryan smiled wearily and waved his hand, “No it’s ok. I’m just a little overtired, it’s all good. But hey man! How have you been?”

Louis pulled up a chair from an empty nearby desk and sat down next to Ryan. “I’ve been good, better than you from what I’ve been hearing. Is it true these guys have been giving you a hard time?”

“Eh, I’m tougher than I look Johnson, I can handle it. Don’t worry,” he said waving his hand again.

“I’m not sayin’ you can’t handle yourself, I’ve seen you take down perps before. Just sucks to hear you’re getting shit for having to making a tough call. And for the record,” Louis said leaning his head in and lowering his voice a little, “everyone in Narcos thinks you made the right call. You know, you’re always welcomed back to Narcos if you want. We all still love you man.”  
  
Ryan smiled, “I appreciate that Johnson, I really do. I think I’ll be fine, but I’ll keep your offer in mind. Hey, what are you doing up in Homicide anyway?”

“I’m here to see you actually,” Johnson says, pulling a case file out and handing it to Ryan. “It’s a homicide, so it would’ve made its way up here anyway, but I thought you might appreciate having a first look at it.”

Opening the folder, Ryan started reading through the case description. He raised his eyebrows and looked at Johnson. “Is this what I think it is?”

Johnson smiled wryly, “Well, we’re not sure, but it looks pretty conclusive. The entire murder screams Bobby S all over it.”

Ryan snorted, “Yeah no shit. Kneeling, one shot from behind the head and at the docks. That’s definitely Bobby’s M.O.”  
  
“That’s what I thought exactly. Do you recognize the Vic?”

Ryan flipped through the file and looked at the picture. The victim looked young, too young. Early twenties, red hair, on the shorter side. Shaking his head he closed the folder. “Sorry man, I don’t know him. He looks way too young for me to have known him anyway, it’s been seven years since I was undercover, I doubt he would have been working for Bobby S’s crew back then.”

Johnson shrugged his shoulders, “I didn’t think so but it was worth a shot. You want a crack at this case anyway? I doubt anyone knows the workings of the Irish mob better than you _Fenton_.”

Ryan rolled his eyes but smiled, “You and I both know it’s been years since I was undercover. A lot has probably changed since I was under.”

“So are you saying you don’t want the case?”

“Hey now! That’s not what I said at all. I’ll look into it,” Ryan said, setting the case file in a safe spot on his desk. “Hey man, thanks for giving this to me. And for stopping by. You know it’s nice to see a friendly face.”

Johnson stood up and clapped Ryan on the shoulder, “Anytime man, anytime. Remember what I said-all of us at Narcos still got your back. And I’m free anytime if you want to go out and get a drink.”

Ryan smiled and stood up to meet Johnson’s eye. “Thanks, I really appreciate it, but I’ll have to decline on the beer for now, Jenny’s planning to leave on a month and half trip to Europe soon so we want to spend as much time together as possible before she leaves.”

“Really? Aw man that’s great, tell her I said congratulations!” Johnson said smiling.

“I will and speaking of Jenny…” Ryan trailed off when he saw what time it was, “Crap! Is it really that late already? I wanna try and make her dinner before she gets home, but if I don’t hurry, she’ll be home before me.”  
“Hey don’t let me stop you!” Johnson said, raising his hands up and stepping aside.  
  
Ryan quickly tugged on his coat, grabbed his left over paperwork and the file Johnson had given him. Gathering everything together to leave, Ryan nodded at Johnson and said goodbye.

“See you later Johnson. Have a nice night. And thanks again for the case!” He called as he rushed towards the elevator.  
  
“No problem man, you have a nice one too!” Johnson called back, waving.

Stepping into the elevator, Ryan pushed the floor button and reflected on how much better his mood felt now than it had this morning. Maybe things would start to turn around after all.

Looking back, Ryan should have known that he was never that lucky.


End file.
